Letter: Keep the gas tax

Rather than getting rid of the gas tax, increase it to pay for that portion of
the military tasked to defend oil producing allies and keep other oil producing
nations inline.

To not do this is an oil subsidy. Take away this oil
subsidy, and cleaner renewables such as solar and wind more use of geothermal
would become more widespread. War to protect oil would also become less
necessary.

MountanmanHayden, ID

Jan. 11, 2014 4:40 p.m.

Fuel taxes are not dedicated to building roads and bridges! The money goes into
the general fund which, of course is used for everything on which the government
spends money. So, to say that fuel taxes are used to build transportation
infrastructure is false!

2 bitsCottonwood Heights, UT

Jan. 11, 2014 11:34 a.m.

How do we pay for road maintenance and new roads when everybody's driving
electric cars or bikes to work? It kinda breaks down doesn't it?
Assuming gas taxes will go up enough to fund it all becomes an unrealistic
expectation.

2 bitsCottonwood Heights, UT

Jan. 11, 2014 11:16 a.m.

Gas taxes are like any other tax.

-They go up immediately (whenever
there's a good excuse)... but they NEVER go down. Even if the excuse for
raising them goes away.

Last gas tax increase I remember was excused
by the flooding and the need to buy huge pumps to pump the water in the Great
Salt Lake out to the west desert (to save I-80).

The flooding's
gone, the pumps are mothballed, but the taxes remain and we just keep on paying
them and paying them until the excuse for the NEXT increase comes along.

We may need to raise gas taxes. I don't know all the details on
it. It just bugs me that we only raise taxes (never lower them).

Seems like gas taxes and income taxes have natural increases built into them
(if you drive more you pay more. More people move to Utah and drive... more
people paying the tax and more taxes for the government to collect. Earn more
and you pay more. Etc). Doesn't seem like the RATE needs to always keep
increasing. Seems like it naturally increases on it's own based on your
earnings or you driving.

ugottabkidnSandy, UT

Jan. 11, 2014 10:32 a.m.

Thank goodness for AAA but if not for the government, a body of citizen
representatives, we would still be driving on dirt roads. Get off the government
bashing Jungle and start offering productive solutions for our issues. The state
of Utah taxes on gas exceeds the federal taxes and the only thing that keeps it
in check is the federal tax. The only real solution is to develop renewable
energy and phase out of carbon. Your children will thank us.

george of the junglegoshen, UT

Jan. 11, 2014 6:36 a.m.

Triple A [AAA] was a club that starter to build roads not the government.

Baron ScarpiaLogan, UT

Jan. 11, 2014 6:00 a.m.

It may be that we'll have to modify the gas tax in some way as people
switch to natural gas and electric vehicles. I have friends and colleagues with
alternative fuel vehicles who now essentially don't pay for the roads they
drive on. With the Tesla now outselling other luxury cars in California, it is
just a matter of time before increasing numbers of people across the country
switch to cheaper natural gas or electricity and avoid the tax altogether -- not
much different from people avoiding sales tax by buying product online.

Tesla is launching a luxury SUV that will be priced about the same as a Lexus
that will cost about 1/3 the price to operate compared to gas-powered SUVs.